Vegas Pushing Hard

In the past couple weeks, I've received:

Harrah's - Stay for free for 3 nights and get a free leather jacket at either The Rio, Paris, or Harrah's.
Planet Hollywood - Long list of extras + cheaper rates
Harrah's again - CHEAP rates at all their properties. IP for free, Caesar's for $79/night? ($117 on weekends)
and a couple MGM e-mails too.

The Venetian suites for $116 + $165 in discounts and freebies?

Circus Circus for 4 nights + round trip airfare from Calgary for $315 (shame I don't live in Calgary)

MGM Grand's lowest rates ever.

Wynn for $109?

Airfare from Toronto for < $400 round trip.

In short - "please, Please, PLEASE come visit us! PLEEEEEEASE?"

Vegas is hurting. Harrah's lost over $400 million last year. Caesar's new tower is built, but they aren't going to touch the interior work until they have demand. So it will sit closed for a while. Harrah's City Center hotel will be seeing the same fate, and a 200-room condo tower never materialized. The whole City Center thing might open up to tumbleweeds the way things are going.

I expect this to continue. The economy isn't picking up this year, and while some people might try gambling their way to financial security, my guess is that lotteries, horse racing, sports betting, and online gaming will see most of that, since you don't have to pay for a hotel or flight. Vegas will just want people in their hotels at any price, so they'll be in their casinos. The cheap rates will attract some, but for how long? I imagine the bulk of new visitors will be coming on the cheap, with microscopic rolls, looking for the discount shows and Vegas experience.

Granted this is also low season, but I don't imagine the spring will be going gangbusters. In the end, the summer gathering should happen, and it could be dirt cheap. Of course, there's Eh-Vegas and Weekend at Mookie's before that.